LGG's Platinum hunting 2017
 

This is a story of getting Finnair Platinum by flying segments. Trip of 76 legs started on 08OCT 2016 and estimated arrival time is in Spring 2017.

Random pictures are here:
https://www.instagram.com/explore/ta...tinumhunt2017/

I'll tag all trips as #AYplatinumhunt2017

#1 HEL-PRG. AY715. A319 OH-LVC. Almost full load to PRG in Y. Seat blocking worked well for me on row 4. Magazines and free drink offered.

#2 PRG-HEL AY716. A319 OH-LVC. Again almost full load in Y to HEL. Middle seat blocked again now on row 5. I had 5A. Arrived in HEL about 15 min before schedule. Magazines and free drink offered.

#3 HEL-BUD AY755. A321 OH-LZD. Flight delayed 30 min due to AY56 coming late from CKG. Apprx 10-15 pax connecting from CKG. 321 Y almost full. Magazine + drinks offered.

Positioning flight BUD-HEL not counted as a segment due to award ticket. 30 min before departure from BUD my AY app tells me that my favourite seat 9A on 321 is gone and I'll have to move to C seat 1F. So Saturday evening fun in C to poor Y budget traveller: good meal and Bombay Shappire GT. ^

This new season's start was nice.

Go go go!

I also positioned to BUD last Tuesday but it was added on my August WAW-HEL oneway, saving 500+€ in the process. WAW-HEL oneway would have been 700++€, but WAW-HEL-BUD was 220€ - works for me. +10k points for seat 1A to BUD.

Back to HEL was already the first leg of my trip to NGO.

Interestingly AY also sells cheap oneways and openjaws via HEL. As an example, my daytrip to WAW was constructed as an openjaw HEL-WAW//CPH-HEL* and the above mentioned WAW-HEL-BUD. Opens up lots of opportunities.

* the CPH-HEL leg priced out at as "promo fare 50€"(!) - but only as part of the oj.

I have noted this increasing trend too and if your schedules allow, I would advise to look into "interesting" combos. To my surprise I saw a few weeks ago that adding a domestic leg HEL-XXX into my ticket return produced a good decrease in total ticket price, something I have never seen happen! I ended up flying that unnecessary segment too as it was not much further from my destination, while I wanted to avoid hiddencity ticketing and problems arising from it

This will be excellent, keep it coming!

And today I had this seasons first ARN flights.

I left home at 19:27 and I was in Finnair's Lounge 19:38 so Helsinki Airport today was really smooth and not zoo at all. In Lounge only salad and soup offered and this salad was tuna salad !! USH perkele! I hate tuna and all seafood.

#4 HEL-ARN. AY649. A319 OH-LVA. This aircraft arrived from OSL on time so boarding and departure to ARN were on time too. About 75% full in Y and C had 4 pax. Magazines offered but not for me. :) 4 other Plats on board. Seat block worked well.

#5 ARN-HEL AY650. A319 OH-LVA. Turnaround in ARN was quite short and we left gate 7 minutes before scheduled time. Now magazines offered. About 70% full, in C one pax. Seat block OK.

Upcoming: #6 + #7 are ARN also and app tells me it's next Monday.

#AYPlatinumhunt2017 for pictures and additional stories.

Any comments from the crew on the turnaround return? Sometimes I get a comment, sometimes not.

Yes. Usually it's "what", "why". :D

Last time I went to BUD, crew asked me if I went sign some papers there.
Once in Singapore crew asked if I had problems with Immigration.

Haven't heard the immigration question, but that is a quite logical one. Smart FA on that plane!

I have had the "Welcome back!", the less polished "Oh, you are back?!" and the witty "I will try not to forget your coat this time!" (I had to the remind staff about my jacket on deplaning) but I guess it is easier to remember a face and say something witty/smart when pax in 1A returns.

As for the "signing paper" question, how about we all start responding "Yeah, I'm legally divorced now! How about we celebrate that tonight?"

They should learn to never ask that question to our great LGG! I can still remember the puzzled face on that Indian airport agent when LGG in great detail discribed his hobby.

In the glorious (pre-9/11) nineties, AirFrance ran advertisement saying literaly that in the future, people would take a plane to buy their morning croissant.

Hah, that was a good one. @:-)

That's what we are doing, no?

At least these turn-around BUD flights for me are exactly that - first out of the plane, grab the weekly papers, grab the Hungarian sausage/wine/etc from the tax free, grab the patisserie from the Szamos shop and head back to the plane. (Rarely enough time to go landside to the local Spar shop for delicacies with turnaround - AY has a tendency to leave early if they arrive early)

Sometimes I take the evening flight back, that's 8 hrs from plane door to plane door, so enough time to go downtown, eat a proper lunch, running errands, do the shopping and head back. All for the glorious amount of 3€, the cost of a 24h ticket.

Glory days of MD-11 I did swimming trips from BKK to SIN.
Swimming trunks in a plastic bag, Cheap C-ticket and great MD-11 ride to Changi. After landing to outside pool above gates, cold Tiger and then SPLASH!

After few Tigers and relaxation, dinner in lounge, back to MD-11 and back to BKK. Oh, I miss those (Don Muang) days.